Method of making pile fabrics



April 22, 1958 J. CRAWFORD 2,831,507

METHOD OF MAKING PILE FABRICS Filed Jan. 4, 1955 s Sheets-Sheet 1 IN VEN TOR.

FIG. 5. Mx/

April 22, 1958 J. CRAWFORD METHOD OF MAKING FILE FABRICS 3 Sheets-Sheet2 Filed Jan. 4, 1955 INVENTOR. W1 BY f April 1953 J. CRAWFORD METHOD OFMAKING FILE FABRICS 3 Sheets-Sheet FIG. /0.

Filed Jan. 4, 1955 I VENTOR. pl jlddm M FIG. I

United States Patent lVIETHDD OF MAKING PILE FABRICS John Crawford,Amsterdam, N. Y., assignor, by mesne assignments, to Mohasco Industries,Inc., Amsterdam, N. Y., a corporation of New York Application January 4,1955, Serial No. 479,713

6 Claims. (Cl. 139-39) This invention relates to the production of pilefabric floor coverings or carpets by weaving operations on'loomsutilizing pile wires and equipped with a jacquard mechanism and, moreparticularly, the invention is concerned with a novel method of weavingcarpets of two-shot construction having a wide variety of pile surfaceeffects. The new method does not require the use of additional jacquardcards or involve mispicking, so that the use of the method does notsubject the jacquard mechanism to unusual wear or impair the efliciencyof the weaving operation. Also only minor changes are required in aconventional loom, when it is to be used to weave in accordance with themethod, and such changes can be made quickly and without difiiculty.

The carpets produced by the method have a pile made up of loops of pileyarns, which have been raised selectively and in accordance with apattern over one, two, or more wires before again being bound into thefabric beneath a weft shot. When the wires are withdrawn, the loopsassume final heights varying with the-number of wires, over which theywere raised, and the fabric thus has high and low loops distributed asdetermined by the pattern. The pile yarns may be bound in beneath weftshots in the upper series, that is, those lying above the stuifer warpyarns, or the pile yarns may pass to the back of the fabric and be boundbeneath weft shots in the lower series beneath the stutter warps toproduce a pattern-on-the-back weave, as desired.

The jacquard mechanisms employed on looms used in the practice of thenew method may be of various kinds, but a mechanism provided with a lashknot board and a comber board functions well for the purpose and anexampleof the method, in which a loom having such a mechanism is used,will be illustrated and described in detail for purposes of explanation.

For a better understanding of the invention, reference may be made tothe accompanying drawings, in which Figs. 1-3, inclusive, arediagrammatic views illustrating the operation of the jacquard mechanismat different stages in the cycle of operations of a loom functioning inaccordance with the new method;

Figs. 4 and 5 are fragmentary plan views of the knot and comber boards,respectively, of the jacquard mechanism;

Figs. 6-9, inclusive, are diagrammatic longitudinal sectional viewsshowing the relative positions of the elements of the fabric in the foursheds formed in the stages making up the loom cycle;

Fig. 10 is an exploded perspective view of a typical fabric produced bythe new method;

Fig. 11 is a longitudinal sectional view of the fabric shown in Fig. 10.

The fabric illustrated in the drawings is of typical twoshotconstruction and includes stuffer warp yarns in groups of three endseach, pile warp yarns 21, and binder warp yarns 22 and 23 in two sets.The warp yarns are interwoven with weft yarns-24, 25 in upper and lowerseries lying, respectively, above and below the stuffer warp yarns 20and bound in place by the binder warp yarns in the usual way. In theproduction 'of the fabric, the pile yarns 21 are raised over pile wires26 to form pile loops and certain of the pile yarns pass over two ormore consecutive wires to form multiple or float loops, as determined bythe pattern carried by the cards of the jacquard mechanism.

In the weaving ofthe fabric illustrated, the warp yarns are manipulatedto form sheds in four stages, which constitute a cycle of loomoperation. In the formation of the sheds, the pile yarns are handled bythe jacquard mechanism, while the stufier and binder warp yarns areraised and lowered by the usual harnesses. The jacquard mechanismillustrated includes a comber board 27 having an opening 27a for thepassage of each of the tail cords 28 of the mechanism and each tail cordhas an eye 29, through which a pile yarn passes, and carries a lingo 30at its lower end. Just above the comber board, each tail cord has a knot31 of such a size that it will not pass through an opening 27a in theboard and, above the knots, the cords pass through the eyes ofrespective needles 32 of the jacquard mechanism. Above the needles, thecords pass through keyhole openings 33a in a lash knot board 33 and thecords have knots 34 above the knot board, which can pass through thecircular parts of the openings 33a but not through the slotted portionsof the openings. The upper ends of the cords are attached to a suitablefixed support 35. The needles 32 are urged to their normal positionsshown in Fig. 1 by the usual springs and the needles are movedselectively from such positions by the pattern cards, such as card 36,customarily employed in a jacquard mechanism.

In an ordinary jacquard mechanism of the type having a knot board and acomber board, the boards move upwardly at the proper times in the loomcycle to raise the pile yarns and the knot board rises more rapidly thanthe comber board. The knot board raises the lash, that is, the pileyarns, which are to lie in the top line of a shed and form loops over apile wire,.while the comber board ordinarily raises the remaining pileyarns' only into the bosom, that is, into line with the stufier warpyarns, so that these pile yarns do not pass over the wire. Before theboards begin to move upward, the cylinder of the jacquard mechanismmoves a card against the end of the needles and those needles, whichengage a solid part of the card, are moved endwise. The needles so movedshift the tail cords controlled thereby laterally, so that the upperknots in the cords overlie the slots of the openings in the knot boardand are thus in position to be engaged by the board. When the boardsrise, the

cords, which have been shifted by the needles, are raised 7 by the knotboard and raise their pile yarns, while the upper knots on the unshiftedcords pass through the openings in the board, so that those cords arenot raised by the knot board. All tail cords not raised by the knotboard are raised by the comber board and, when the boards move down, allthe cords are lowered together by the boards, so that all the pile yarnsreturn to their original positions. I

When a loom with a jacquard mechanism constructed and operating as abovedescribed is to be employed in the practice of the method of theinvention, the cam used for raising and lowering the knot board isshifted rearwardly on the cam shaft. As a result, when the boards movedown to lower the pile yarns after insertion of a pile wire in the shedbeneath the yarns, the knot board lags behind the comber board for apurpose to be described. The only other change to be made in the loom isthe replacement of the cam operating the comber board by another havinga higher lift, so that all pile yarns,

i Patented Apr. 22, 1958 Whose tail cords are lifted by the comberboard, will be raised toform part of the lash, and will thus lie at sucha level that a pile wire can be inserted beneath them.

The stages in a cycle of operations of a loom weaving in accordance withthe method of. the invention willbe' apparent from an examination ofFigs. 6-9, incl., which show thehandling of two pile yarns, a group ofthree stutter warp yarns, and a binder warp yarn of eachset. In thecycle, one pile yarn is caused to form a double loop, while the. otherformstwo single loops. In Fig. 6, there is illustrated a shed, in whichpile yarn 21a has been raised to the top line by the knot board and pileyarn 2111 has been raised to the top line by the comber board.Thestuffer warp yarns and the binder warp yarns 23 of the first set liein the center line of the shed, while the binder warp yarns 2420f thesecond set lie in the bottom line of the shed. Upon formation of theshed as described a wire 26 is, inserted beneath the lash made up of allthe pile yarnsv represented byyarns 21a, 21b and above the stutter warpyarns 20 and the binder warp yarns 2-3 of the first set. Also, a shot ofweft yarn is inserted beneath the stutter warp yarns 20 and the binderwarp yarns 23 and above the binder warp yarns 24 of the second set. Uponinsertion of the wire and the weft shot, the wire and shot are beaten upto the fell of the goods, following which the shed is changed and thesecond shed shown in Fig. 7 is formed.

In the formation of the shed of Fig. 7, the binder warp yarns 20 aremoved down, as are also the pile yarns. Insuch downward movement of thepile yarns, the yarn 21b, which was raised by the comber board, moves,down ahead of the yarn 21a, which was raised by the knot board, so thatthe yarn 21b reaches its lowermost position, while the downward movementof the yarn 21a is continuing. The relative positions of the. binderwarp yarns 23 and 24 remain unchanged and, when the yarn 2112 hasreached its bottom position and while the yarn 21a is still moving down,a shed is formed, in which. thepile yarn 21a and the binder warp yarns23 lie in the top line and the binder Warp yarns 24-, the stufier warpyarns 2t and the pile yarn 2112 are in the bottom line. A shotv of weftyarn 25 is then inserted into this shed and the throw of the shuttle isso timed, that the weft shot passes beneath the descending yarn 21a. Theinserted Weft shot is then beaten up and it binds the yarn 2111 but doesnot bind the yarn 21a. By the time both the comber and knot boards havereached their lowermost positions, the card has been moved away from thebank of needles, so that the needles and their tail cords have returnedto their initial positions.

Before the formation of thethird shed, the next card is advanced intoactive position on the cylinder of the jacquard mechanism and is movedinto contact with the needles 32. In the cycle being described, the pileyarn 21a is to form a double loop and pile yarn 21b is to form twosingle loops. Accordingly, the second card is cut with holes oppositethe needles controlling the tail cords of both yarns 21a and 21b and theneedles and tail cords will not be shifted, when the card engages thebank of needles. When the knot board rises, the yarn 21a will not beraised by that board, as in the first stage of the cycle, but will beraised with yarn 211) by the comber board. The third shed of the cycleis thus the same as the first shed shown in Fig. 6, except that thebinder warp yarns 24 are raised to the center line of the shed and thebinder warp yarns 23 lie in the, lower line. A pile wire 26 and a shotof weft yarn 25 are inserted in to the third shed and beaten up, afterwhich the warp yarns gre manipulated to form the fourth shed illustratedin In the formation of the shed of Fig. 9, the stutter warp yarns 20 andthe pile yarns 21a, 211) are moved down while the relative positions ofthe binder warp yarns 23, 24 remain unchanged. As the pile yarns wereraised, by the comber board, they move down together and, when the newshed is ready for insertion of a shot of weft yarn 25, the binder warpyarns 24 lie in the upper line of the shed and all the other warp yarnslie in the lower line. When the inserted shot of weft is then beaten up,pile yarns 21a, 21b are bound thereby. The cycle of operations is thuscompleted and a new cycle started with the formation of the shed shownin Fig. 6.

In weaving in accordance with the new method, yarns typified by yarn21a, which are raised by the knot board in the formation of a shed, arenot bound in the fabric by the weft shot inserted into the followingshed, because of the late descent of the knot board. If such yarns areraised by the comber board in the formation of the third shed, they willbe bound into the fabric by the weft shot inserted into the fourth shedand each such yarn will thus provide a double loop in the pile. If ayarn is to form a triple loop, it will be raised twice in succession bythe knot board before being raised by the comber board and, by propercutting of the jacquard cards, any yarn can be caused to form a loop ofany size desired. Yarns represented by yarn 21b which are to form singleloops, are raised by the comberboard and such yarns are bound in thefabric by the weft shots inserted into the sheds following those inwhich the yarns were raised.

In describing the cycle illustrated in Figs. 6-9, incl, it has beenassumed that all the pile yarns in the fabric are typified by theyarns21a, 21b and that the fabric is to contain no loops larger than doubleloops. It is to be understood, however, that, each time the pile yarnsare raised for insertion of a wire beneath them, the ele vation of theyarns may be effected by the action of either the comber board or theknot board, as may be determined by the pattern. Accordingly, byproperly cutting the jacquard cards, it is possible to cause the pileyarns to form multiple loops over any desired number of wires and therelative positions of single and multiple loops of different yarns inthe pile may be varied, as desired.

A typical fabric produced by the method of the in vention is illustratedin Figs. 10 and 11. The fabric has the backing construction previouslydescribed and the pile yarns have been raised over wires under thecontrol of ,the pattern, so that the yarn 210 has been caused to form asuccession of loops which, in the length of fabric shown, comprises adouble loop, a single loop, two double loops, a single loop, and adouble loop in the order stated. The yarn 21d has been caused to formthe same sequence of loops as yarn 21c but the loops of yarn 21d are outof alignment with the corresponding loops of yarn 21c. Yarn 21:? hasbeen caused to form loops in another sequence, which includes two singleloops followed by a double loop, a single loop, two double loops, and asingle loop.

In the fabric of Fig. 10, the loops of pile yarn are shown as having theshapes, in which they are maintained by the wires beneath them, but,when the wires are withdrawn from the transverse rows of loops, as theweaving operation proceeds, the elasticity of the yarns upon release ofthe tension therein causes the loops to decrease in height. The singleloops assume the shape of loop 37 (Fig. ll), while the double loops,such as loop 38, pull down to a less degree than the single loops.Accordingly, in the pile of the finished product, the single loopsappear to provide a ground for a pattern formed by the high multipleloops.

I claim:

1. A method of weaving carpets made up of pile and stufifer warp yarnsand binder warp yarns in two sets interwoven with weft yarns on a loomequipped with a jacquard mechanism, which comprises manipulating thewarp yarnsto form a first shed with .all the pile yarns in the top line,the stutter Warp yarns and the binder warp yarns of the first set in thecenter line; and the binder warp yarns of the second set in the bottomline, inserting a pile wire and a ,shot of weft yarn into said shedabove and below its center line, respectively, and beating up the wireand the shot, forming a second shed by lowering all the pile yarns andthe stufifer warp yarns, while leaving the sets of binder warp yarnsunchanged relatively to each other, selected pile yarns being loweredlater than the remainder in the formation of the second shed whereby, insaid shed, the binder warp yarns of the first set and said selected pileyarns lie in a line higher than the nonselected pile yarns, the binderwarp yarns of the second set, and the stuffer warp yarns, inserting ashot of weft yarn into the second shed, continuing the lowering of theselected pile yarns to place them in a line with the nonselected pileyarns, completing the lowering of the selected pile yarns, beating upthe second weft shot, forming a third shed by raising all the pile yarnsto a top line and the stufter warp yarns and the binder warp yarns ofthe second set to a center line, while lowering the binder warp yarns ofthe first .set to a bottom line, in serting a pile wire and a shot ofWeft yarn into the third shed above and below its center line,respectively, and beating up the wire and the shot, forming a fourthshed by lowering all the pile yarns and the stutter warp yarns, whileleaving the sets of binder warp yarns unchanged relatively to eachother, inserting a shot of weft yarn into the fourth shed below thebinder warp yarns of the second set and above all the other warp yarnsand beating up the shot, and repeating indefinitely the operationsdescribed in the order given.

2. The method of claim 1, in which the selected pile yarns and theremaining pile yarns are separately raised to the upper line of thefirst shed and separately lowered in the formation of the second shed.

3. The method of claim 2, in which all the pile yarns are raised in thesame operation to form the top line of the third shed.

4. The method of claim 1, in which the raising of the selected pileyarns is started ahead of the raising of the remaining pile yarns andthe lowering of the selected d pile yarns is started later than thelowering of the remaining pile yarns.

5. The method of claim 1, which is carried out on a loom equipped with ajacquard mechanism having a lash knot board and a comber board and inwhich selected pile yarns are raised to the upper line of the sheds bythe lash knot board and the remaining pile yarns are raised to said lineby the comber board, and said selected pile yarns are lowered later bythe lash knot board than said remaining pile yarns are lowered by thecomber board 6. In a method of weaving a carpet made up of pile andstutter warp yarns and binder warp yarns in two sets interwoven withweft yarns on a loom equipped with a jacquard mechanism, the steps offorming a shed with the pile yarns in the top line, the stutter warpyarns and the binder Warp yarns of the first set in the center line, andthe binder warp yarns of the second set in the bottom line, inserting apile wire and a shot of weft yarn into the shed above and below itscenter line, respectively, and beating up the Wire and weft shot,forming a second shed by lowering all the pile yarns and the stufierwarp yarns, while leaving the binder warp yarns unchanged, selected warpyarns being lowered later than the remainder, inserting a shot of weftyarn into the second shed before said selected pile yarns have beenfully lowered, said weft shot passing beneath said selected pile yarnsand the binder warp yarns of the first set and above all the other warpyarns, and beating up the second weft shot.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS2,023,016 Hall Dec. 3, 1935 2,649,862 Harding Aug. 25, 1953 2,685,894Parlin Aug. 10, 1954 2,750,964 Hoeselbarth June 19, 1956

